The Game of Love
by rollinginthedeepxo
Summary: Troy and Sharpay go through life day to day taking it one step at a time... and one kid at a time.
1. Chapter 1

Sharpay cared about a lot of things. She was completely different now as an adult than she was in high school. She was nice, conservative, and she cared about other people and things other than everything revolving around her. She started caring when she went to New York. She met Peyton and fell in love. They were together for two years. Sharpay got pregnant six months into their relationship and they were both ecstatic. The baby wasn't planned, but they both vowed to love and cherish it. Unfortunately, when Sharpay was just one month shy of her due date, she stopped feeling movement. When she went to the doctor to find out what the problem was, the doctor gave her the terrible news that the baby died. Sharpay gave birth to hers and Peyton's stillborn son Preston and they spent as much time as possible with him before he was taken by the coroner.

Sharpay and Peyton were devastated, but Sharpay took it the hardest. She grieved-and still is-but bounced back quickly. She knew she couldn't stay depressed for the rest of her life. She's still upset about it, but she tries not to think about it much, although she does talk about Preston a lot. A few months after Preston's death, Sharpay and Peyton broke up. After they broke up, Sharpay moved back to Albuquerque. Peyton came back with her, but he got his own place. They agreed to stay friends, and four years later, they still are.

Sharpay got together with Troy Bolton just a few months after she moved back. He and Gabriella had issues and broke up. Sharpay and Troy fell in love, and within a few months, they were pregnant with their son Matthew, who is now two years old. Now they're living in their own house, Troy coaching the basketball team of East High, and Sharpay teaching the drama club, raising Matthew, and currently expecting their second child in thirty-five long weeks.

"Oh my god!" Sharpay shrieked from upstairs.

Troy and Matthew, who were in the kitchen, looked at each other. "What do you think that's about, Bud?" Troy asked.

Matthew shrugged. "I no know."

"You stay here, I'll check on Mommy."

"Otay."

Troy got up from the table and he walked upstairs. "What's wrong?" he asked, walking into their room.

She pointed to the bathroom. "There's a spider in the shower! I took a shower with a spider! Get it out!" Sharpay said, near tears.

Troy knew how terrified of spiders Sharpay was. If there was a spider within eyesight, Sharpay screamed bloody murder. "Okay, okay. Calm down, Babe, I'll get it. Go downstairs with Matt."

Sharpay whimpered and she ran her hands over her face. "I'm calling an exterminator. That's disgusting. My house will _not_ have bugs."

Troy chuckled. "It's okay, Shar; one little spider isn't that bad."

"Go look at it, Troy. It's _not_ little," she said between gritted teeth.

"It's _one_ spider," he said walking into the bathroom.

"With one spider comes a hundred more." Sharpay sat on the bed, running her hands through her hair.

"Sharpay, it's just a-oh my god," he said, once he saw the spider.

"Get it out."

"I'm not touching that thing, it's huge."

"GET IT OUT!" she shouted.

"Call the exterminator."

* * *

If there was one thing Sharpay hated, it was that her student didn't pay attention in class. She'd been trying to talk for the last ten minutes and no one had noticed. As some of the jocks in the back laughed loudly, Sharpay picked up a heavy book and dropped it on her desk. The book landed with a loud smack and everyone silenced, looking her way. "You are all being completely disrespectful. If you talk over your parents like this, you need to be slapped. Those of you that didn't hear the assignment the first time, you're SOL because I'm not repeating it. Have fun trying to pass my class, because this counts as thirty percent of your grade."

The basketball captain, Devin, raised his hand. "Wait a minute, Mrs. Evans, that's not fair," he said.

Sharpay looked at Devin. "Mrs. Evans is my mother. I'm _Miss_ Evans."

"Well whoever you _are_," he said, rolling his eyes, "it's not fair."

Sharpay raised an eyebrow and was about to respond, but was interrupted.

"I think it's perfectly fair," Kylie Nielsen said. "If we aren't respectable enough to be quiet long enough to hear what she has to say, then we don't deserve to get a good grade. What's not fair is that you idiots are so loud, those of us that _are_ listening don't get to hear what our assignment is, and so we don't get a good grade either. Maybe if all of you jocks back there shut up for a minute, you'd actually have a bit of knowledge in those pea sized brains of yours." Sharpay was surprised. Kylie was _just_ like her sister Kelsi; soft spoken, shy, introverted. She never expected something like that to come out of a Nielsen's mouth.

"Hey, brainiac, go back to what you do best and be the teacher's pet," Devin said.

"Knock it off," Sharpay said. "Kylie's right. It's not fair to those trying to listen because they can't hear over your ignorant jokes." She loved all of her students, but they did get annoying; especially the jocks. "You need to shape up. If you don't start learning discipline now, you'll never achieve anything. If you want to stay in this class, you'd best get your ass in gear. You're already failing with a thirteen percent. That's pathetic. My son is passing this class and he's only two."

Devin looked surprised at Sharpay. She'd never talked like that to him before; especially not in front of the whole class. Sharpay raised an eyebrow. "What? Nothing to say? Good." She took a pen out of her desk drawer and jotted something down on a pink slip, then held it out. "Principal's office."

The class watched as Devin collected his things and walked up to her desk, taking the slip from her, and walking out of the room, letting the door slam behind him.

"Way to go Miss E," Devin's best friend Jordan said.

"Stuff it or you're next," Sharpay said. "Look guys, I know I'm being harsh, but I'm tired of you guys screwing around. It's annoying. You're not only wasting _your_ time, but you're also wasting _my_ time, and I don't have time to waste. I have a kid I have to take care of, I have a boyfriend, and I have another baby on the way, and it is extremely important that I don't get too stressed out during this pregnancy. It's dangerous, so bare with me and just get your work done and do what I ask."

"Why is it dangerous?" a girl next to Kylie asked.

"Because I had a difficult pregnancy before I had Matthew."

"How difficult?"

"Extremely."

"What happened?"

"Wait, you only have Matthew," Jordan said.

"Yes, I'm aware," Sharpay said, sitting down in her chair.

"Then, why-"

"My first baby was stillborn," she snapped. "My point is I need to be stress free to get this baby to my due date. Just do what I said to do."

Sharpay felt her students staring at her, and she looked down at her desk, shuffling through things to keep busy.

"Sharpay!"

Sharpay turned around to find the familiar voice. She knew that voice all too well. Gabriella. She was the chemistry teacher here at East High. "Yes?" she asked.

"I know you're busy with Matthew, but I have a _huge_ favor to ask of you." Gabriella had a slight expression of frazzle.

"What is it?"

"I'm late for a meeting, so can you pick up Amy from daycare and take her to your place? I'll run by and pick her up after my meeting."

"Sure. I'm going to the store, but I'll pick her up right now and then go."

"Thank you so much. You're a life saver," Gabriella said in relief.

"No problem."

Sharpay and Troy had been helping Gabriella out with Amy since Gabriella's boyfriend left after finding out she was pregnant. Sharpay had grown close with Amy, thinking of her as her own. The little girl was just seven months old but she was smart just like her mother.

After Sharpay picked Amy up from daycare, she went to the store like she said she was going to. She only had to pick up a few things so she would only be there for about thirty minutes. As she pushed the cart down the baby aisle and Amy played with her car keys, two kids with frizzy curly hair ran past her dribbling a basketball. She only knew two children that did that. The Danforth kids. Taylor and Chad had their first baby when they were still in high school, their second right after graduation. They were young, but Sharpay wouldn't deny that they were both amazing parents.

"You two stop running in the store and give me that ball," Sharpay said.

The kids turned around and the younger little boy smiled. "Aunt Sharpie!" he said, running over to her and hugging her legs.

"Hi Honey. Where's your Mommy?"

"In the other aisle," the older boy said.

"Okay well, give me the ball and you can have it back when your mom gets here. You know the rules," she said, holding her arms out.

He sighed and handed the ball to her. "We're bored."

"Zander, you can't run around with a ball in this store. Or any store, for that matter. It's dangerous," she said, putting the ball in her basket.

"Zander and Darren, I told you to stay with me," Taylor said as she walked down the aisle.

"Auntie Sharpie took our ball," Darren said.

"Good. I told you to leave it in the car in the first place. Hi, Sharpay," she said.

"Hey," Sharpay said.

"Hi, Ames," she said, kissing Amy's cheek. "Babysitting?"

"For a couple hours. Gabby had a meeting so I picked her up and I'm taking her back to my place. Matt will be excited. He'll have someone else to play with other than Troy and his trucks." Matthew got bored easily. When he got bored, it was hell on Sharpay because she had to be creative and think of something that she knew he would love. Being her child, of course it was hard to find something he loves.

Taylor smiled a little. "Aw, is he getting bored?"

"Hell yeah."

"Put him in daycare. Amy will be there, he'll have fun."

Sharpay had thought of putting Matthew in daycare before. She usually left him with her mother and then Troy picked him up on his way home from work because he got off work before she did. "I dunno. I mean, he loves staying with my mom and she likes to spend time with him."

"So then let her have him on the weekends." It was a simple enough answer for her. That's what she does with her parents.

"Troy's parents get him on the weekends."

"Well then alternate weekends.

"That wouldn't be fair."

"Why not?"

"Because they already don't get to see him all that often, the weekend is their time with him. My parents get him every day for eight hours during the week and Lucy and Jack get him for two days for the weekend. My parents get more time with him already."

"Well what happens when he starts school?" Taylor asked, raising her brow in question.

"I'll take him to school, Mother will pick him up and keep him until Troy gets off work, and Jack and Lucy will still have him for the weekends." Sharpay knew Taylor was just trying to give her helpful suggestions, but she didn't want _anyone_ telling her what to do with her own child, especially when she was doing just fine on her own with Troy.

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure something out when the time comes to change. I gotta get these two back home for lunch. I'll see you later," she said, pushing her cart past Sharpay. "Come on, boys. Say goodbye to Aunt Sharpay."

"Bye, Aunt Sharpie," Darren said.

"Bye, Aunt Sharpay," Zander said as he hugged her.

"Bye Honey," Sharpay said, kissing his head. "Get your ball. Hold on to it, stop bouncing it in here."

"Okay."

She wished Matthew listened like that.

* * *

With the day Sharpay was having, she was surprised that she wasn't jumping down Troy's throat about Matthew being covered in chocolate when she got home. Now thirty minutes later, Troy was ordering pizza, while Sharpay herself was changing Amy's diaper and attempting to get Matthew calmed down. So far, it wasn't doing so well.

"Matthew, please stop jumping over Amy. You'll step on her," Sharpay said, taping the diaper together.

"No, I no s'ep on Amy," Matthew said.

"You might hurt her though Honey, you can't jump over her. She's not a hurdle. Go jump over your nap pillow. Daddy's ordering pizza for dinner and you can't have any if you don't listen."

Matthew looked at Sharpay, stopping in his tracks. "But, I hungwy."

Got him. "Okay, then you need to listen to Mommy."

"Otay, I wisten."

"Thank you. Pick up your toys for Mommy," she said, picking Amy up and kissing her cheek. She couldn't get over how cute and chubby Amy was. She was like a little ball of fat.

"Otay. Amy stay night?"

"Nope, Auntie Gabby is picking her up. Pick your toys up and come to the kitchen when you're done," she said.

"Otay."

Sharpay stood up and walked to the kitchen, kissing Troy's cheek and handing Amy to him on the way to the pantry.

"How's the boy?" Troy asked, ruffling Amy's hair.

"Picking up his toys. He wants his pizza," she said taking a can of formula out.

Troy chuckled. "That's my boy. How was work?"

Sharpay shrugged. "No better than any other day, no worse."

"Sucked, huh?" Sharpay nodded. "What happened?"

She sighed, filling up a baby bottle with water. "They were being completely disrespectful. I shouldn't have to shout in my own classroom so those… _imbeciles_ can hear me. It's ridiculous."

Troy nodded, sitting Amy on the table. "Yeah, it is. But remember we were all the same way when we were in school. We have no room to talk."

"Except that when we were told to be quiet, we shut the fuck up and didn't ask questions."

Troy's eyes widened and he gasped playfully, and Amy looked at him. "Auntie said a bad word, Ames."

Amy babbled loudly, waving her arms around. Troy noticed a small smile on Sharpay's face, but it had a hint of sad in it. When Sharpay took Amy from him and put her in the high chair at the table and handed her the bottle she made, Troy took her by the arm lightly and lead her into the foyer. "What's going on?" he asked.

Sharpay looked at him, tilting her head a bit. "What are you talking about?" she asked with an expression of confusion.

"You're not acting like yourself… You seem sad with Amy today, your students made you snap. What's wrong?" he asked with concern.

Sharpay shook her head, looking down. "Nothing, I just…"

"What, Babe? You can tell me."

Tears filled her eyes as she looked back up at Troy. "What if this baby is stillborn? What if something is wrong with it?"

"That's what's got you acting weird? Shar, nothing is going to happen to this baby." Troy wiped Sharpay's tears with his thumbs.

"It happened to Preston…" Just mentioning her son's name hurt.

"I know, but everything happens for a reason. If it hadn't happened to Preston, we wouldn't have Matt; we wouldn't be having this baby…"

"Amy would be yours and Gabriella's…"

Troy looked at Sharpay for a few seconds. "What? What brought that on?"

"I see the way you look at her… You love her."

"Babe, we were just a high school fling. We're over."

"I'm talking about Amy. You think of her as a daughter. If I weren't in the picture, she'd be your little girl."

Troy shook his head. "Don't think like that. I would be honored to have Amy as my daughter, but only if you were her mother. I don't want any woman to give birth to my children other than you." He meant that. He didn't want anyone else to have his babies. That was Sharpay's job, and _only_ Sharpay's job.

Sharpay looked back and forth between his cerulean eyes. God, those eyes made her melt every time she looked into them. "…I'm gonna give you a little girl. I promise. I can't promise that she'll be as amazing as that baby in there, but I can try to make her pretty close."

"Any baby that's ours is amazing. Look at Matt. He's the most awesome little boy anyone could ever know," he said. He took pride in his son. He was his pride and joy other than Sharpay.

Sharpay sniffled and her chin quivered involuntarily. "I just want you to be happy," her voice cracked.

"I'm _very_ happy, Sharpay… Don't ever think differently. I couldn't be happier being with you and having Matthew and this new baby," he said as he placed his hand on her stomach. "I'm more than excited to be having another baby with you, boy or girl."

"You'll get your little girl. I promise. We'll keep having boys to get to our girl." Sharpay sniffled. "…Well, as long as they're neat and clean… I can't stand a filthy house. We need a maid."

Troy laughed and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her head as she buried her face into his chest. "No we don't. I'll start helping out around the house with cleaning and stuff so you don't have so much to do. I'll get Matt to help me."

Sharpay breathed in, taking in his scent. "Troy."

"Hm?"

"I love you…"

Troy lifted her head and he looked at her big brown orbs. "I love you, too. I mean that."

"Really?"

Troy smiled and he pressed his lips to hers. Sharpay didn't know what it was about his kisses, but they just made her forget all about her problems. She loved kissing Troy. If they never made love again, that would be just fine with her as long as she could kiss him.

As they pulled away, they both groaned inwardly as they heard a crash from the living room.

"I no do it!" Matthew called out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Vergenie:** That was only the first chapter. Matt will be in the story more as the story progresses. I don't know why you have the assumption that Troy and Sharpay "bonded" more with Amy, because Amy and Matt were in the story for the same amount of time. There was nothing in the whole chapter insinuating that Sharpay wanted a little girl more than a boy. When she said, "if I wasn't in the picture, Amy would be yours and Gabriella's," she meant exactly what it sounds like; that if she and Troy weren't together, Amy would be Troy's daughter. Sharpay knows how much Troy wants a little girl, and that's what she was saying. If they weren't together, he'd have the little girl he's been wanting. Not that they don't love Matt because he's a boy. How you take the concept of this story isn't my fault.

**xHeadstrong410x:** Thank you for your positive review!

* * *

"Mommy," Matt whispered, patting Sharpay's arm.

Sharpay took in a deep breath, stretching as she came out of her sleep, and she squinted her eyes open a bit, looking at Matt. "Why aren't you in bed, Matthew Chad?" she asked.

"My tummy no nice, Mommy."

"No? Okay. You want some juice to make your tummy feel better?" she asked, sitting up and throwing the covers off of her.

"Yeah."

Sharpay picked Matt up as he held his arms up and she kissed his cheek before making her way downstairs to the kitchen. "Is your tummy hungry?"

"Yeah, I hungwy," Matt said as he was placed in his high chair.

"Maybe that's why your tummy doesn't feel good. Mommy's hungry, too. What do you want to snack on?" she asked, walking to the refrigerator.

"Pantates!"

Sharpay laughed. "Pancakes?" She looked at the clock, which read **5:45**. "Well, Daddy will be up in fifteen minutes, so we'll have pancakes, okay?"

"Otay."

By the time Troy woke up, got showered, dressed, and downstairs at 6:22, Sharpay had breakfast done, the table set with his and her plates, and was pouring orange juice into glasses. "Morning," he said. "What are you two doing up so early?"

"Matt's stomach wasn't feeling good so we got breakfast done early," Sharpay said.

"My boy's sick?" Troy asked, kissing Matt's head. "How you feeling now, Buddy?"

"I otay," Matt said.

"Good. You think he's sick?" he asked, looking at Sharpay. He worried about Matt when he got sick. He was just like Sharpay; when they were sick, they were _really_ sick. For days, sometimes up to two weeks.

"He doesn't have a fever. He hasn't complained about his stomach since he ate, but I'm gonna stay home today just in case it ends up being something later on. Gabriella doesn't have first through third period, so she's subbing for me until Matsui gets a sub to take over for fourth through seventh."

"Alright. Is she going to bring Amy over instead of taking her to daycare?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I don't want to chance it. If Amy gets sick, that's less work for Gabby. God knows she needs _more_ work."

Troy nodded. "She does. I wish there was something we could do to help her."

Sharpay bit her lip lightly and looked at her nails for a few seconds. "…Well, there is… _one_ thing we could do…"

"What's that?" Troy asked, sitting down and taking a sip of his orange juice.

"Ask her to move in."

Troy coughed, spitting his orange juice out, and he wiped his mouth as he recovered. "What!"

"I'm serious, Troy, she's not doing good. She's just barely making rent. Teachers don't get paid much and you know that," she said, sitting at the table.

"We're doing just fine," he said, defensively.

"Yeah with _my_ earnings. And that's for the shows I do on the side of teaching. The teaching jobs don't bring in that much."

"Well, how are Gabriella's financial problems _our_ fault? Can't her mother help her out?"

Sharpay looked at Troy for a few seconds. "Her mother moved while you guys were in college. I was in New York and I knew that."

"Look, I just don't think it's a good idea for her to move in with us," Troy said.

"Why not?"

"Because we used to be together, Sharpay. She's my ex. I'm not supposed to have anything to do with her. I'm supposed to pretend that she dropped off the face of the earth. I'm not supposed to talk to her, and instead, we're practically raising her daughter for her instead of letting her do it herself, and now you're talking about asking her to move into our house."

Sharpay crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair. "First of all, it's _my_ house; I'm the one that bought it," she said. The glare on Troy's face let her know that they'd be fighting later on. He hated it when she brought up the fact that she had the money to buy huge, extravagant, expensive things whenever she wanted on a whim and he couldn't. "Second, we are not raising Amy. We baby sit when she needs us to. I give her advice on what I did with Matt if she's having a problem with Amy that we went through."

"You know what? We'll talk after work. I'll be late," he said, standing up.

"You didn't even eat, you have thirty minutes left."

"I'm not hungry."

Sharpay sighed as Troy left the kitchen, and she looked at Matt. "Daddy's mad. We need to cheer him up when he gets home."

* * *

When Troy got to work, he was still pissed at Sharpay for throwing it in his face that _she_ bought the house. He knew it wasn't that big of a deal, but it bothered him when it came to money. He was raised down to earth, with respect for money. She was born spoiled rotten, had a gold card by the age of ten, and had her head in the clouds. It wasn't his fault she was over privileged.

"Troy, you got a minute?" Gabriella asked, catching up with him in the hallway.

"Only a minute," he said.

"I have a dentist appointment that I completely forgot about. Can you get Amy from daycare and take her to your place?" she asked.

"Matt woke up earlier not feeling well, I don't think it's a good idea to have her over when he's sick."

"Yeah, I know; Sharpay told me he wasn't feeling good. It's only for an hour or two, there's no one else that can pick her up."

"Then leave her at daycare."

"I can't, they won't let me. Please? It's only for this afternoon."

Troy sighed and stopped walking, turning to look at her as she stopped. "Look Gabriella, Sharpay and I can't keep taking Amy off your hands for you. She's your daughter, you should be the one doing this stuff."

Gabriella looked confused. "Yeah, I know that, but I only need you to watch her for—"

"I can't. I think we should cut all ties between us," he said.

"What? What do you mean? Troy, I—"

"We broke up a long time ago," he stated. Gabriella nodded. She knew that. She was there when they broke up. "We're exes. We aren't supposed to be involved in each other's lives as much as we are. We need to stop that."

"What are you talking about?" She had hurt in her voice.

He hated doing this, but he needed to. "Stay out of mine and Sharpay's life. I don't want anything to do with you. It's not normal that we see each other as much as we do."

"I'm Sharpay's friend and you're her boyfriend; it's not _not_ normal, Troy." She didn't understand any of this. Why was this all coming out now? Why not before? Why was it only bothering him just now?

"You're not her friend. She still feels the same way about you that she did in high school. You need to figure stuff out with Amy on your own. That's what parents do. I'm sorry, but please leave us alone," he said, walking down the hall.

Gabriella stared after him, tears that she was holding back sliding down her cheeks.

* * *

Sharpay hung the phone up angrily, walking towards the front door. Matt and Amy were sleeping, so she didn't have to worry about them for a while. Troy wasn't answering his phone. Gabriella had stopped by in a state of frazzlement to drop Amy off so she could make her dentist appointment, and she'd told Sharpay what happened at school earlier in the morning. Sharpay was appalled at Troy's behavior, and quite frankly embarrassed and angry that he brought her into it.

She watched Troy get out of his car and stared at him as he walked up the porch steps. "What?" he asked.

"_What_? That's all you have to say to me?" she demanded. "What in God's name is wrong with you? Why in the _hell_ would you tell Gabby off the way you did? And bring me into it!"

"What?"

"Gabby came by to drop Amy off so she could make her dentist appointment," she said crossing her arms.

"Why is Amy here? I told her we couldn't watch her today," he said, furrowing his brow.

"Yeah, I know. She called to ask if it would be okay, and when she got here she told me what happened. I can't believe you, Troy. She's our _friend_. Why would you do something like that?" she snapped.

"I'm tired of her pushing Amy onto us every day!" he retorted. "Every day it's a new excuse. She has a dentist's appointment, she has a late meeting, she has a date. Why can't she just get a damn baby sitter?"

"We _are_ her baby sitters! Troy, you hurt her feelings!" Sharpay knew Gabriella got annoying sometimes; she'd be the first to admit that, but doing what he did to her was uncalled for.

"No, we aren't. She's an adult. She needs to figure stuff out on her own, just like we did."

"We got help! We _still_ have help, Troy; from your parents, from my parents, from Gabriella when she's able to watch Matt! You can't just cut her off like you did! Amy is a part of our lives, Troy, and so is Gabriella!" She knew they weren't technically family, but they were the closest thing Gabriella has to family, since her mother's not in Albuquerque anymore.

"I'm tired of her being around all the time. She's my ex girlfriend, I shouldn't have to see her as much as I do."

"Well that's too bad, now isn't it? Look, you don't have to see her, talk to her, or have anything to do with her anymore, but you are not telling me who I can and cannot be friends with, or help out when they need it. If we were in her situation, you know she'd do everything she could to help us," she said. Gabriella was just that kind of person. She gives money when she doesn't have money to give, she helps people when she doesn't even know how to help them, and she gives the best advice she can when she's asked.

"I don't want her around here anymore, Sharpay. I'm serious," he said, walking past her to go into the house.

"Well then you can go live with your parents or get your own damn house, because Amy's going to be staying here and so is Gabriella, until she can get on her feet. I'm not waiting until it's too late for her to do anything about her situation, and if you don't like that, you can leave," she said.

Troy turned around and stared at her. "You're not kicking me out of my own house."

"_My_ house! _I_ bought it, _I _pay the bills, _I_ say who gets to live here! Figure out something to do, Troy, because I've had it up to here with you and your attitude towards Gabby. I'm sick of it, and it embarrasses me that my boyfriend is that type of judgmental asshole," Sharpay said, walking past him and into the house.

"Stop throwing that in my face!" he shouted. "I'm tired of you throwing your money in my face!"

"Then start acting like I'm equal to you! I am a strong and independent woman, Troy; I don't _need_ you to get by! I can do just fine by myself! It's _you_ that won't make it very far if you don't have someone there to support you!" Just as quickly as she'd said that, Troy's hand came out and smacked her across the face. They stood there, staring at each other as tears filled her eyes and fell down her cheeks. A few minutes passed before Sharpay had the strength to say anything. "I want you out this weekend," she said.

"No."

"This weekend. Sleep on the couch until then. I'm tired of fighting with you. You're not going to control me. This is my house; I say what goes on around here. I don't want you here and I don't want you near my son," she said, starting towards the stairs.

"You aren't keeping me from Matthew; he's my son too, Sharpay," Troy said.

"It'll be a while before you see him again. I mean it, Troy. This weekend," she said, ascending up the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Anon: **Oh no, haha. Troy isn't Amy's dad. He just doesn't want anything to do with Amy or Gabriella because they aren't his priority or responsibility.

**Zashleyrulez: **Thanks for reviewing!

**Vergenie:** I wasn't trying to be rude, I was just explaining what I saw was pointed out. If I sounded rude, I'm sorry. I'm just blunt and honest with what I say. Thanks for reviewing.

**xHeadstrong410x:** I want Sharpay to be less diva-ish (although it IS Sharpay and quite impossible for her to not be a diva), but I still want her to be herself, so I hope I'm getting enough attitude in there for her. I'm also trying to make her nicer, more in tune with Ashley Tisdale so people reading this but knowing Sharpay as the bitch in HSM (and if they haven't seen SFA), that she really does mean well and does actually have a good side to her. I love Ashley and Vanessa's friendship, so I want to incorporate that into this story as well, so for the story's sake, they're practically best friends.

I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I'm already running out of ideas. FML. This was basically just a filler. If you guys have any suggestions for next chapter or future chapters beyond, please mention them in your reviews.

* * *

A few days after the fight Troy and Sharpay got in, she was still livid and disappointed that he'd gone so far as to hit her. She was hurt and upset, and right now she didn't want anything to do with him. Right now, Gabriella was over with Amy to spend the day since it was Saturday and Troy was already gone, so they didn't have to worry about things being awkward. Sharpay wanted to talk to her about moving in so they could get it done and over with, because she didn't want to wait until it was too late to do anything.

"…and then my house phone fell in the sink and it's irreparable, so I just gave up on it. I hardly ever used it anyways and it was just costing extra money I don't have," Gabriella said.

"I don't have a house phone. They're a waste of money. Matt, Honey; don't swing your toy around, you might hit Amy, baby," Sharpay said.

"I no hit Amy," Matt said.

"I know you didn't, but you might if you get too close to her. Stop swinging your toys around, please."

"Otay."

Gabriella smiled. "I can't believe how big he's getting. He's almost three years old," she said.

Sharpay nodded. "I know… I can't believe my little boy is going to be a big boy. It just doesn't seem fair for kids to grow up," she said. She didn't want Matt to grow up. She liked him just as he was right now as a baby. She didn't like the thought of her little boy getting older.

"I don't want Amy to grow up, either," Gabriella said. In the short amount of time that she's been a mother, she knows how truly cherishing and heartfelt being a parent is. Even without Amy's father in the picture, she knows she's raising her daughter to be the strong young woman she wished she'd have been when she got older. With the help of Sharpay, there's no doubt she'll end up in the right direction. "I don't think we can prevent it, though."

"You could," Sharpay said with a nod. "You're the chemistry genius. You should come up with a formula. We can put it in their bottles."

"Actually, it's quite complicated to make up a formula, especially when you don't know what to expect with they form together, even if—"

Sharpay held her hand up. "Enough. I'm falling asleep," she said.

"Well fine then, I won't tell you the secret."

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "We need to talk, Gabby." She wanted to get Gabriella moved in so they didn't have to worry about it later. The sooner they talked the better.

"Okay, about what?"

"Tell me the truth. How tight are finances right now?" She just wanted to get down to the point and she wasn't waiting.

Gabriella stared at Sharpay for a few seconds and looked down at her nails. "It's not too bad. It's getting a little better."

"Liar." Why couldn't she just tell her the damn truth? It wasn't like she was blurting it out to the whole world that she was nearing poverty. Hell, that's not even anything to be embarrassed about anymore; almost everyone was there anyway.

"Look, we're fine, okay? We're getting through it. We'll be fine."

"No you won't. Not if you don't do anything before it's too late, and it's already too late," Sharpay said. "You're going down fast, Gabby; you _don't_ want Amy living like that. I don't know what it's like, but I know what it's like to watch a friend go through it, and I don't want to watch you go through it."

"There's nothing anybody can do about it though, Sharpay; it's _my_ problem, not anybody else's. I can handle it," Gabriella said. She was just a _little_ annoyed by Sharpay not believing in her. Who says she can't spring back up? She could get a promotion… Maybe.

"Move in with us."

Gabriella's eyes widened, looking at Sharpay. "What? No, I can't do that; I can't intrude."

"You're not intruding; I invited you to live with us. I don't want to see you go down like the Titanic."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. Sharpay and her metaphors. "I'm not going down like the Titanic. It's not _that_ bad."

"Look, I know it's probably embarrassing to admit that you need financial help. I would be _mortified_ if I had to go to someone else. But Gabby, you have a baby to think about. Don't do it for you, do it for Amy. You don't want her growing up in a life of poverty. She won't get as good an education, she won't excel in nearly as many things as average kids, she won't have the opportunities she deserves," Sharpay said. She truly did care for Gabriella and Amy. Amy was like her own little girl as much as she has her. She didn't want to see either one of them going through that. "If you're dead set against moving in, at least let me keep Amy until you can get on your feet."

Gabriella shook her head. There was no way she was leaving her baby. Yes, she trusted Sharpay with all her heart to keep Amy safe, but she didn't want Sharpay to raise Amy; she wanted to do that herself. "I can't leave Amy, Sharpay. That's out of the question."

"Then I guess we should call U-Haul and get your stuff over here," she said.

Gabriella sighed. Sharpay – 1, Gabriella – 0.

* * *

Sharpay didn't understand why Troy hit her. She knew he was mad, but that's no reason to strike a woman. Right now, she was in her room. She'd convinced Gabriella to move in with her, so when Gabriella finally gave in, they asked Troy's mom to watch Matthew and Amy, Sharpay explained what happened between her and Troy, and she and Gabriella brought some stuff from Gabriella's house. Now that they were all back at home, she was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep. Something was bothering her. She wanted to talk to Troy rationally, and over the phone might be the only way she could do that.

She let out a small breath, pressing the speed dial for Troy's phone. She listened as it rang, but she ended up getting the voicemail. She tried it again, but was sent to voicemail in the middle of the second ring. She dropped her jaw and scoffed. "Oh _no_ he didn't," she said, dialing the speed dial again. When she was sent to voicemail again, she sighed and entered *67 to block her number, then held the phone to her ear.

"_Talk to me,"_ Troy said from the other line.

Sharpay narrowed her eyes. How dare he send her to voicemail but answer a blocked call? "Hi, jackass."

"_Is that necessary?"_ he asked with annoyance in his voice.

"What? Calling you a jackass? Yes, it is. You sent me to voicemail, but you answered a blocked call. That's messed up."

"_Why are you calling me?"_

"Because we need to talk," she said with a 'duh' tone. She knew he wasn't the smartest person in the world, but he didn't have to be a complete dim wit.

"_Well then talk,"_ Troy mocked her tone.

Sharpay sighed. "Look, we need to figure something out. I don't want to be in a relationship with someone that's going to hit me just because I'm richer than him."

"_That's not why I hit you and you know it. You throw your money in my face. This is something we go through almost every day. I don't see why you have to do that to me. It's annoying and I can't stand it when you do that shit. What makes you so great of a person when you just boast about your earnings?"_ Troy asked. She was really starting to piss him off.

"I don't boast! I _remind_ you that I'm the one that pays for everything!" she said. Well, it was true. She _does_ pay for everything. "I pay the bills, I pay for the groceries, I handle all of our finances! You have never _once_ contributed!"

"_That's bullshit, Sharpay. I contribute by helping you with Matthew."_

"Well, I don't need help with Matthew. I don't even need help with expenses, but it would be nice to get some sort of help from my so-called boyfriend. If you're such a big shot, why are you living under your girlfriend's roof, living by your girlfriend's rules, and being taken care of by your girlfriend, when it's supposed to be the other way around and equalized?" Sharpay couldn't take much more of him being absent from the finances. Just because she could afford it, doesn't mean she should have to.

"_There you go again. You're making this all about you. It's not about you, Sharpay, it's about us,"_ he said. He was sick and tired of her whining and complaining.

"No! We aren't an us anymore, Troy! You blew that! You fucked it up with you hit me! I don't want you around me right now; I don't want you around my son—"

"_**Our** son, Sharpay."_

"_My_ son! You lost your privilege and right the second your hand touched my face!" Sharpay was being dramatic, but she'd be damned if she was going to let him get away with hitting her without consequence. "You know what? Forget I ever called to reconcile. I'm over you. Stay away from me, stay away from Matthew, and stay away from Gabby and Amy. If you come near us, I'll have a restraining order filed against you," she said before hanging up, not giving him a chance to reply.


End file.
